Disclaimer: Hakuouki is the work of Hiraku Naki
Time: seconds inside minutes inside hours inside days and months and years, - one life's span.
All compressed into a single moment: now.
Because Hijikata knew that this moment, right here and now, was the most important moment in his life. Time was slipping through his fingers like sand, heedless of his desperate attempts to salvage what he could. The end was near, he could feel it. But now was the only important thing.
He couldn't afford to think of anything else: not his past nor his future, or lack thereof, there was only the present. The present in which Chizuru stood beside him, her face marred by a worried frown, and the impassive figure of Kazama Chikage.
For the briefest of moments, Hijikata allowed himself to feel regret: regret for the life he and Chizuru could have had together, for the memories they could have made. Regret for the Shinsengumi, for the future they would never have, for their filthy, blood-stained hands. Regret for himself, for his lost innocence, for his broken dreams, for his short - too short - time in this achingly beautiful world.
But Hijikata was, if nothing else, a man of incredible self-control. He could not allow himself to dwell on these insignificant thoughts. There was no time now for regret, only time to ensure that Chizuru will be safe, and to settle matters with Kazama. Everything else would come later, if it will come at all.
He never expected to live that long anyway.